Chapter 297: Refugee
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Ji-Ji!”
Jiang Yi went back to examining the transformation of the star sphere in his dantian while the Demon Empress went back to seclusion. The little fox felt bored and when it saw that Xiao Hong was already up there, its eyes looked around as it called out to Xiao Hong and sent a message to Xiaonu: “Big Sister Xiaonu, come! I asked Xiao Hong to bring us to pick some fruits in the mountains.”
Xiao Hong had this expression of hidden bitterness. It was more than willing to bring the little fox out for a spin; with the Demon Empress’ orders, bringing Jiang Yi around was fine as well. Bringing a human lady brought a lot of shame to it. It was a king of the demon race, and it actually had to be under the feet of a human young lady, putting down its prowess as a Demon King.
Xiaonu was shocked, too. She might have stood on Xiao Hong’s shoulder when they came here, but Jiang Yi was around at that time, and she was still trembling along the way. Now that Jiang Yi wasn’t around, she didn’t dare to ride on this Demon King.
“Ji-Ji!”
The little fox gave a vicious glare to Xiao Hong and called out loudly, which made the Demon King harbor even more hidden bitterness; but its tyrannical presence slowly subsided. Soon enough, the prowess of a beast had entirely vanished, turning it into a small sheep.
The little fox jumped up Xiao Hong’s extended palm before hopping onto its shoulder. It then sent a message to Xiaonu: “Big Sister Xiaonu, come quickly. Let us go pick some fruits, and when Big Brother is out, we can let him eat it.”
Perhaps it was because the little fox mentioned Jiang Yi, or perhaps because Xiao Hong wasn’t emitting any beast prowess, it didn’t seem as frightening anymore. Xiaonu gritted her teeth and took two steps forward before being gently grabbed by Xiao Hong’s giant hands and placed on its shoulder.
Swis.h.!.+
As the Demon King’s legs sank, the ma.s.sive body jumped off the hundred-kilometer cliff, which caused its body to gradually shrink before sinking into the clouds and vanis.h.i.+ng.
…
“The first star sphere has transformed. I wonder if I continue cultivation, would the second star sphere transform as well?”
Jiang Yi was rather excited on the sky platform. The Demon Empress’ explanation gave him a huge help; at least, it pointed him in the path of cultivation. It was to cultivate all the other eight star spheres to the extremity and ultimately make them transform like the first star sphere, which would unceasingly increase his strength.
He was rather urgent to enter the sky platform because he wanted some proof. For the next period of cultivation, would it begin to fill up the second star sphere?
Jiang Yi quickly sat in meditation and circulated the Nameless Divine Art. To his delight… the black essence force began to gush out, but it wasn’t in the first star sphere. It was in the second star sphere!
The Demon Empress’ judgment was right on point. Once Jiang Yi’s first star sphere transformed, he could cultivate the second star sphere. As long as he continued cultivating, his strength would only get stronger.
“You will be comparable to a Vajra Realm martial expert when your third star sphere has transformed!”
When Jiang Yi thought of this statement from the Demon Empress, he was so excited that he was trembling. Comparable to a Vajra Realm martial expert when the third star sphere had transformed? What would happen when the fourth, fifth, and sixth star sphere transformed? Would his strength be comparable to a Heaven Monarch?
If this continued on… when all nine of his star spheres had transformed, at what stage would his strength be?
He couldn’t even imagine, but he felt as though a path towards heaven appeared in front of him. As long as he followed this path and take each step while leaving his footprint behind, he would finally reach the ending point. Perhaps… he would then be truly invincible on the Stellarsky Continent.
“When all nine star spheres transform? Can I live so long?”
Jiang Yi quickly calmed down and revealed a trace of agony on the edge of his mouth. It took three celestial stones and cultivating for three months in this Emperor Palace before his first star sphere transformed, which absorbed all the black essence forces from the other star spheres. It was apparent how much more essence force was required for each star sphere.
The second star sphere was exactly the same size as the first star sphere, but Jiang Yi instinctively felt that for this star sphere to transform, it would require twice as much essence force than the first star sphere—perhaps even more. If the third star sphere required twice as much as the second star sphere and if it carried on like this, he would be dead before he could transform all nine star spheres.
“I shall do this slowly. As long as there is a direction, I will diligently work towards it. The results are not important!”
Jiang Yi let out a bitter smile. The moment when his dantian transformed, he was at a complete loss. He didn’t know how to cultivate, he had no directions, and he was left in confusion. Now that he found a method and direction, his heart was finally stabilized.
He sat for a moment and allowed his feelings to regain his composure before he closed his eyes and cultivated.
When he cultivated for a moment, he noticed a problem. The second star sphere’s black essence force was much more condensed than the first star sphere, and the production of essence force was two folds slower than before. In order to transform the second star sphere, it would definitely require twice the amount of time.
Time flew quickly!
Jiang Yi didn’t listen to the outside matters and concentrated on cultivating. He actually didn’t even see the little fox or Jiang Xiaonu, but he wasn’t worried either. With the little fox around, Mt. Thirty Thousand was just like a back garden, and Jiang Xiaonu would never encounter any danger. The little fox wouldn’t exit from the boundaries of the mountain either and would be accompanied by the Demon King, which was naturally very safe.
On the fifth day, Jiang Xiaonu and the little fox were back; but Jiang Xiaonu was having this concerned expression. She immediately went up to the sky platform once she returned and awakened Jiang Yi who was in the midst of cultivation.
When Jiang Yi saw Jiang Xiaonu’s grave expression, he stood up in a hurry and asked, “What’s wrong, Xiaonu?”
“There are so many refugees!”
Jiang Xiaonu’s big eyes were filled with sorrow as she explained: “There are so many refugees at the south of the mountain. Countless of them, refugees filled up the entire vision. They are so pitiful, and there are many elderly and children. They were digging up underground caves to stay in, and if Xiao Fei didn’t get Xiao Hong to help out, they would have already been killed by low-tiered demonic beasts…”
“Refugees?”
Jiang Yi’s sharp brows lifted. Wasn’t the Great Xia Kingdom south of the mountains? Didn’t the demonic beast insurrection end? Why would there be so many refugees appearing from the Great Xia Kingdom? They even came to Mt. Thirty Thousand to take shelter? Weren’t they afraid of being killed by demonic beasts?
“Ji-Ji!”
The little fox cried out and sent a message: “It is true, Big Brother. We noticed it when we were picking fruits. There are so many refugees below the mountain, and I asked Xiao Hong to chase away all the nearby demonic beasts; otherwise, there would be plenty of casualties. What happened with the humans? Why would there be so many casualties?”
“Great Xia Kingdom?”
Jiang Yi’s expression was looking bad as he knew that something major must have happened on the continent! Why didn’t Zhuge Qingyun send him any messages? Could something have happened to Zhuge Qingyun, too? Was he intentionally keeping a secret from Jiang Yi?
“Let’s go and take a look!”
Jiang Yi made a prompt decision. If he didn’t ask for a clear answer, his heart would have this indescribable unease.
“I will go, too!”
Xiaonu said loudly while the little fox was even more afraid that the world was in chaos. The little fox immediately called out while rus.h.i.+ng down the sky platform. Soon enough, two humans and one beast rode on the Xiao Hong’s shoulder which was summoned by the little fox. They were rus.h.i.+ng towards Mt. Spirit Beast College’s direction.
“Ji-Ji-Ji!”
When the little fox saw how urgent Jiang Yi was feeling, it constantly urged the blood red Demon King to increase its speed. As Xiao Hong traveled at its top speed, it took just two days to arrive outside of Mt. Spirit Beast College.
“Huuu…”
When he saw that nothing was out of the ordinary with Mt. Spirit Beast College, Jiang Yi felt rather relieved. He asked the little fox and the Demon King to wait at Mt. Black Clouds while he brought Xiaonu and rushed towards Mt. Spirit Beast.
When he encountered a team of patrol guards, he immediately yelled out, “What happened on the continent? Why are there so many refugees in the south of Mt. Thirty Thousand?”
Over a dozen patrol team members heard Jiang Yi’s question and looked in one another’s faces. One of them asked while feeling confused, “Jiang Yi, didn’t you know? The Azure Dragon Empire and the five kingdom’s armies had invaded the Great Xia Kingdom four days ago. In just four days, they took down hundreds of Great Xia Kingdom’s cities. I reckon that in less than half a month, the Great Xia Kingdom is going to be extinguished…”